Keep Moving
by Auron Belmont
Summary: DQVIII: Fourth in a continuing series. The endless quest has tempers fraying and strength fading. So what's a leader to do? Maybe all that junk in the wagon will be good for something... Spoilers to Empycchu.


_A year and a half later, I've picked up this game and rediscovered why I like it so much and wrote so much about it. So I've come up with a few new ideas. But rather than mess with my established timeline, I've found new stories to fit in some gaps I've left in the course of the party's lengthy adventure. Hope you enjoy and yes, there's more to come. And as always, Akagi is the name of the Hero.  
_

If anyone ever harbored delusions of leading a group of fair explorers across strange lands, they usually left out the bits that involved back breaking work. For example, Akagi thought dourly, no one told him that being a leader would involve, at times, stopping your teammates from killing each other.

He couldn't blame them this time, though. Their journey didn't seem to have any end to it and now, they found themselves on a deserted plain in a strange land only illuminated with the help of a sea chart. Large boulders were the only thing to break up the monotony of the landscape.

Bickering in the shade of a stand of rocks, Jessica and Yangus snarled and spat at one another.

"You stupid git!"

"'orse-faced wench!"

"Bloody moron!"

"Miss Prissified!"

At that point, Akagi didn't care which one of them had accidentally cracked the pulling harness on Medea's cart. In reality, it was probably neither. Having been hauled hundreds of miles by now, what cart wouldn't break? But it seemed to give everyone an excuse to drop what they were doing and seethe.

"Why not admit both of you broke it and stabbed my poor Medea! Both of you are careless and both of you are responsible!"

Akagi winced. Oh no. King Trode, leaving off the care of his horse-daughter, had thrown himself in between the whip mage and the ex-bandit, his shrill voice rising above both of theirs.

"I did nofin! It were all this bird whippin' 'ere there an everywhere and snapped it clean in two!" Yangus leveled his scythe at Jessica. "You all seen it!"

"Oh, that's rich! A real laugh! When everyone knows how fond you are of those Wind Sickles that often go astray? Of course you did it!" Jessica punctuated her statement with a crack of her whip.

"You're both guilty, in my estimation! You both are fond of shirking responsibility!"

All right. This had to stop now. Before Jessica and Yangus could draw breath, Akagi screamed, "ENOUGH! All of you SHUT UP. Even YOU, Your Highness."

The three of them whirled around and shot back, "WHO ASKED YOU?!" They then looked at each other, with equal looks of disgust and walked deliberately away from one another.

For a count of ten, no, twenty, Akagi beat a tattoo against his thigh with his fingers and breathed very evenly. Right then. His boots crunching through the plain grass, Akagi decided the best course of action. "Princess? It doesn't look too bad." The gash across Medea's shoulder looked gruesome, but had already stopped bleeding.

Still, every little bit helped. From his pocket, Akagi drew out a vial of holy water and washed the wound clean. Then he crushed herbs against it and pressed an old bandana to finish it off. "It's too bad I can't tie this on here, eh?" A flash of whimsy made him smile. "Aren't knights the ones usually wearing favors from pretty ladies?" Medea turned her head around to snort.

Another firm press and the bandanna bandage seemed congealed to the mix of water, herb and wound. It wouldn't last for long. "Just stand still for now, princess." He'd have to think of something. But now, at least Medea seemed in better spirits.

That left the bickering trio and Angelo. The fact the knight skipped the entire argument by dozing in the shade gave Akagi something else to worry about. As everyone in their party knew by now, Angelo operated on several modes, depending on his mood.

Angelo the flirt tried to woo every pretty girl in town, much to the delight and dismay of his friends. Woe betide the smirking Angelo, for one would be zinged by his clever mouth. Cynical Angelo, what Akagi mentally decided was a default mode, was the friend who advised you to steal magic treasures from kingdoms, for Godess knew royalty never let anything go for a price. Honest and angry Angelo made you see things you rather wouldn't.

Unfortunately, the Templar fell under none of these modes, save one: exhausted. As the healer of the group, it often fell on Angelo's shoulders to chant the spells that saved them, plead intercession with the Goddess when his healing wasn't quick enough, and generally keep them in working order. Even after helping their leader learn a good number of healing spells to share the burden, circumstances usually dictated having the Templar shoulder the burden.

Akagi hated to do it, but he crouched down on the balls of his feet and shook Angelo's shoulder. "We can't rest here. It's not safe."

Grumbling protestations met Akagi's words. "Why not? The cart spar's cracked and it's bloody hot."

That much was true. The air felt heavy and thick, but with no clouds in the sky, no rain seemed eminent. The walking through water sensation didn't make travel any easier.

"It is. But sleeping here won't get us to town any faster," Akagi replied.

"You hope there's a town," Angelo grumbled, then tugged at his collar. Irritated, he snapped off his half cloak and threw it aside. "Too bloody hot."

An idea alighted in Akagi's brain. "Let's shred the cloak then."

A blue eye opened. "What?"

"If it's so hot, you don't need it. If I lend you my sword, can you turn this into a long strip of cloth? That way we can keep my makeshift poultice on Medea."

Angelo blinked a few times and yawned. "Hmm. Could work. However, I expect some compensation for my good deeds."

"A pretty lady to fuss over you for having to heal such obviously blundering idiots like ourselves? I'm sure they'll be one or two to take pity on you in town." Chuckling, Akagi grabbed the Templar's arm. "C'mon. Up you get."

"I was hoping for the opportunity to sleep for an entire day, but I admit your idea holds much more appeal."

Leaving Angelo to puzzle out his cloak, Akagi strolled to the back of the wagon. They'd need something sturdy to repair the spar on the harness. Even if they cut off the offending section, it would place too much stress on Medea to overcompensate in one direction. Let's see, he thought.

Trode sat in a sulk in the back of the wagon. "Oh there you are. Coming to apologize to me, are you?" the king asked.

"No, your highness. All three of you were yelling and you weren't about to stop any time soon." In the course of their adventure, the wagon acted as a rolling storehouse for quite a bit of supplies and outright junk. Akagi spied a few likely prospects under a case of scorching cheese.

"Not going to apologize! But they hurt my daughter!"

"Sire, do you honestly think anyone here would ever hurt Medea? Really and truly? More than likely, it was an accident. Or the wood had a crack in it and it decided to break. I'm sure that's all that happened." Gently, Akagi placed a hand on the monster's shoulder. "It'll be all right. I've got an idea that you can help with." A grin. "And get a bit of revenge, if you're so inclined."

"I...I suppose no harm was intended." This came quite reluctantly from Trode. "But revenge you say? Lead on, my boy. I'll do anything as long as it doesn't hurt my precious Medea."

Jessica and Yangus walked back to the wagon after a few minutes, each from a separate direction and glared at each other. "You ready for another go, clodhopper?"

"'Ey, I was walkin' back to the cart this way first. A man's got a right to walk where 'e pleases."

"You've the whole plain to tramp your big feet on and you walk exactly the same direction I'm...hang on." Jessica left off her tirade to point at the wagon. "Isn't that one of my whips? And some axe handles they're using?"

Yangus peered a bit closer and paled. "That ain't all they're using."

Argument forgotten, the pair ran for the wagon, protesting quite loudly over the need for their unmentionables used to tie the makeshift spar into a neat package.

King Trode looked quite proud of his handiwork. "There! I do apologize, Medea, for the unseemly display. But I'm sure Jessica and Yangus realize that sacrifices have to be made. Desperate times, desperate measures and all that."

"But a garter and boxer shorts! Was that really necessary!" Jessica exclaimed, trying to fight a blush.

Akagi cinched the harness gear comfortably on Medea. "I was going to stop with the whip and axe handles. But we did need something else to tie it all together."

"Why couldn't you use...where's your cloak, choirboy?"

"Adorning the lovely Medea," Angelo replied, testing his bandage, wrapped around the horse's chest and keeping the bandanna in place. "I admit the orange looks garish with the red, but I'm sure something more pleasing can be arranged in town."

Yangus stared a long time at Medea. "Just great. We've turned our 'orse into a clothesline. What next?"

"We head to town. And...probably pick up some more clothes." Akagi knelt down and offered Trode a boost onto the cart. "Well, gentlemen and lady, I believe there's a quest to get back to?"

The makeshift spar held, along with the bandage, as Medea plodded forward.

"Gettin' on with the quest? Is he actually focused for once?"

"Without any prodding from us. It's quite extraordinary."

"They're better be hot baths, beautiful women, and poker in this next town. No particular order."

Akagi heard, rather than saw, the double thwap delivered to Angelo's back. "Right! Let me see if I heal your sorry selves if monsters show up!"

He probably should say something, but decided not to. Sometimes the victory was as simple as keeping everyone moving and their eyes ahead on their endless quest.


End file.
